Saeed Ajmal retired from all forms of cricket on November 29. The Pakistani bowler played his last farewell National T20 Cup match at Rawalpindi. Though it did not turn out to be a perfect farewell match for the Pakistani veteran as his team Faisalabad lost by 10 runs to Lahore Whites while chasing down a target of 143 runs. The 40-year-old received a ‘guard of honour’ as he came off the field after the match.
Lahore Whites scored 142 for 7 in the first innings. Faisalabad could score only 132 runs as they bundled out with 2 balls to spare. Ajmal could not do much with the bat as he got runout for a golden duck.
Here’s the video of the ‘guard of honour’ –
In his farewell speech, Ajmal urged the Pakistani fans to turn up for the domestic tournament as players love to play when there is a crowd backing them. He also felt that international cricket will be played more frequently in the country and the fans should show their support. He also thanked the crowd that turned up to watch his farewell match.
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‘Here’s the video of Ajmal’s retirement speech –
While most of the Faisalabad bowlers turned out expensive and leaked run at an economy rate of over 7 runs per over, Ajmal bowled a brilliant spell. In his spell of 4 overs he gave just 13 runs and picked up the wicket of Raza Ali Dar. His economy rate was 3.25 which is considered to be top notch in T20 cricket where batsmen tend to dominate the bowlers.
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Here’s Ajmal’s final spell –
Ajmal has a total of 447 wickets in international cricket. 178, 184 and 85 wickets in Tests, ODIs and T20Is. Ajmal is also the third-joint highest wickettaker in T20Is with Umar Gul. The spinner is also the 7th highest wicket-taker in T20s with 270 wickets.
